[Neurologic manifestations of arterial hypertension in children]

Abstract

Neurological complications of arterial hypertension are analyzed in 31 children (mean age = 9 years). All patients presented a renal or renovascular disease (acute nephritis + hypoplastic dysplasia , transplantation = 58%) for which malignant hypertension was the first symptom in 16%. The mean +/- SD initial blood pressure was 189 +/- 33/113 +/- 25 mm Hg and was preceded by previous symptoms in 1 patient out of 6. Neurological abnormalities consisted in seizures (48%), acute intracranial hypertension (39%), cranial palsy (23%), coma (19%), hemiplegia/paresia (16%), retinal changes (6%) or aphasia (6%). The EEG was abnormal in 50% of the patients, sometimes showing permanent paroxysmal activity. Neuroradiologic investigations revealed hemorrhagic and/or ischemic lesions in 1/5 patients. On follow-up, hypertension disappeared in 41% of the children; a decrease in renal function was noted in 56% of the patients at the last examination; neurological sequellae were present in 40% (EEG anomalies +/- epilepsy, motor deficit, retinal changes, psychomotor delay, cranial palsy) and 1 patient died. The morbidity of malignant hypertension stresses the importance of early diagnosis and treatment (calcium channel blockers) when its prevention is not possible.